The Medusa Plot
by Hugtheplanet
Summary: After witnessing a violent attack on her aunt and uncle, Lily Potter is FINE  Freaked out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional . As her father-and themajority of her family-try to find the real attacker, they are sucked into an international terrorism network. A legal murder mystery is the last thing Lily needs, especially when she thinks she might be falling for her lawyer's son.


The Medusa Plot: Prologue

"_Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." ~Bertolt Brecht _

Lily Potter rubbed her hands together to keep them warm in the cold air. Wearing a green sweater, a black velvet trench coat, jeans and her favorite pair of boots, she looked as though she were going out into a winter storm, not a stroll through Hogsmeade. But it was October and winter was fast coming. The weather patterns that accompanied it were strange- the middle of the month and already a thin frost lay on the streets. And to top it off, Hogwarts was even colder than usual. Lily added another wintry touch to her outfit at this thought- an emerald green scarf, much to the amusement of Sahara Zabini, Lily's best friend. Sahara was lounging on the dormitory beds, happily flicking through a Witch Weekly, humming her favorite song of the week. Every now and then, she'd toss a comment out to Lily, telling her opinion on her friend's fashion choice. Sahara cast a critical eye over the green sweater and Slytherin scarf Lily was wearing. "Yeah, Lils... Slytherin pride much?" Lily rolled her eyes, knowing better than to express her irritation at the nickname. "It annoys people." And by people Lily meant James. Sahara perked up instantly. "James is going to be in Hogsmeade?" Lily sighed in exasperation. The Zabini girl's crush on her brother was no secret. Why Sahara wanted to waste away her teenage years daydreaming about James was beyond Lily. "Yeah, I think he is." In reality, Lily had no clue- she just needed someone to roam the streets of Hogsmeade with. Sahara bounded out of bed with a surprising speed considering her previous position. "Do I look okay?" Lily gave her friend's clothes a sweeping glance. Sahara was a Zabini. She was born looking good. "You're going to freeze." Sahara frowned then shrugged. "Oh well." She pulled on leather boots over her dark grey leggings and a leather jacket over her autographed Puddlemere United t-shirt dress. Paired with her glowing olive skin and silk black hair, the outfit made Sahara look even more like a model than normal. Lily tugged on her bold, red locks self-consciously. "No!" Sahara shrieked and Lily spun around half expecting a mass-murderer or a serial rapist to come out of the shadows of the girls' dormitory. "What was that for?" Lily asked angrily. "I thought some Death Eater was climbing through the window!" Sahara paused and retorted, "Of course not minding the fact that our dorms are under the school and that it's damn near impossible for a Death Eater to enter Hogwarts!" "It's happened before." Lily said stubbornly. Sahara rolled her kohl-rimmed eyes and gently removed the curl of red hair from Lily's fist. Lily gaped.

"That's what that ungodly scream was about? My freshly curled hair?"

"I spent, like, an hour on said 'freshly curled hair!'" Lily snapped her fingers. "What the hell?" Sahara mischievously replied, "Oh, that's an old one. Not my favorite, but I ever liked Avril to begin with. Too... ugh." "Shut it, Zabini. Now tell me, does I look alright?" Lily asked anxiously. Sahara waved her hand dismissively. "Lily, darling, you're a red-head. Slytherin colors look sexy on you. Now, come on, everyone is already gone." Lily couldn't help but chuckle at her friend as they linked arms and exited the dorms together. It was the beginning of the end. -

[***]

Sahara gritted her teeth as she shivered and tried to stop her knees from knocking as they crossed the street to The Three Broomsticks. "This is insane, Lily. I hate you." Lily grinned, her breath coming out in puffs. "Told you that you were gonna freeze. Why are you wearing a dress anyway?" Sahara frowned, not bothering to correct the red-head. "You never know when you're gonna meet the love of your life. So, my plan is simple: look sexy all the time." Lily chuckled, swerving around a dodgy old man at the pub's entrance. "That's the worst plan I've ever heard of, and I've grown up with Hugo Weasley." Sahara ignored her friend and let out a sigh of relief as they entered the warm, noisy restaurant.

Moving swiftly, they grabbed a booth and ordered two butterbeers. Sahara began to scan through the crowds, searching for Lily's eldest brother. "You said he'd be here!" Sahara hissed, leaning forward with her palms spread out, trying to stare into Lily's eyes.

"Hmm…" Lily looked up from her glass where she was playing with the foam of her butterbeer with a spoon. "Oh Gawd!" Sahara cried out, dramatically tossing her head back. "Miss me, darling sister? It's okay, I'm here now!" Jace Zabini, Sahara's twin brother, slid into their booth. Sahara rolled her eyes. "As if, _brother_." She pinched his cheek. "Ugh, geroff me!" Jace protested. Lily smiled fondly at the two siblings, with only a faint blush on her cheeks. She never really did get over her crush on Jace. "Watcha doing here, Jace?" She inquired, looking at him over the rim of the glass.

"You mean I can't stop to talk to my two favorite girls?" Jace put a hand over his heart, looking wounded. "Don't let your girlfriend of the month hear you say that." Sahara sang. What was it with Zabinis and dramatics? Sahara stared her brother down, smiling evilly. He relented. "All right, all right. It's 'cause I heard McLaggen talking some creepy shit about you two. That doesn't roll with me." Lily snorted, taking another sip of warm, butterscotch goodness.

"Translation: He thinks we're hot."

Jace looked horrified. "No I don't!"

Sahara face palmed. "McLaggen, you idiot." Sahara's face lit up as though a mischievous idea that just struck her.

She leaned in conspiratorially. "Tell _McLaggen_ that this jersey has Oliver Wood's autograph on the bum." Jace, who had been drinking some of his sister's butterbeer, began choking. Lily's jaw dropped. "What is my cousin's godfather's signature doing on your _bum_?"

Sahara grinned evilly. "I got it signed… with me in it. If you know what I mean." She wriggled her hips and shoulders suggestively, a feat she managed sitting down. Jace sent death glares and a scowl to a pair of Hufflepuff fifth years who had cast Sahara a wide-eyed, admiring glance. They promptly scurried off. Thankfully, Lily and Jace knew the teasing glint in Sahara's eyes meant that she was doing just that- kidding.

There were several times in Lily's life that she felt quite plain, and sitting next to the beautiful Zabini twins intensified that feeling. Especially as she looked at the retreating backs of the Hufflepuffs. Lily decided to melt into the background, a common thing for her. She heard a light cough and opened her eyes, slowly removing the spoon she had been twirling from her mouth.

Sahara had leaned back in her seat, an eyebrow raised. She was clearly fighting a smirk. Jace looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Careful Lily… don't want to cause an… accident."

Lily laughed, tossing her flaming hair. Jace's Adam's Apple was bobbing nervously - he didn't look nearly as Greek God-like as he normally did.

"Oh, yes. That would be _such_ a shame." Lily said, remembering to make her lips into a perfect 'o' shape at the vowels, just like Dominique had told her.

"Right…" Jace muttered, glancing around the bar in an almost desperate manner. "Umm… I'll just… uh, leave you guys to each other… yeah." Sahara and Lily grinned at each other, the former tossing a wink to the latter.

"Now where did you learn that?" Sahara leaned forward, as though the two of them were discussing something top secret.

"Hmm… take a guess, girlie. Couldn't possibly be my Veela cousins, right?"

Sahara rolled her eyes. As a general rule, Zabinis and Veelas were a combination that could only lead to hilarity and disaster.

"If your dad found out that's why you spend so much time with Victoire and Domi, you're screwed."

"Yes, _if_ he finds out!" "You know, this is the clichéd scene where the girl thinks she's going about her evil plan so nicely, and everything begins to fall apart. So bad, Lils, so bad."

Sahara fixed her dark gaze on something behind Lily's right shoulder. "And if you don't mind, Liam Finnegan is looking awfully toasty in that suede jacket…" Lily's mouth opened. "Do they even _make_ jackets out of that? I mean, _really_."

Her friend batted Lily's question away and ran her hands through her hair. "Hush you. _Real_ men wear suede." Sahara waggled her fingers at Lily before tossing down a Galleon and strolling over to a smirking Liam.

Lily shook her head as she downed the rest of her butterbeer. Sahara was so flighty, always contradicting herself on her theories of love. Just as the redhead was about to rise out of her seat, two people slid into her booth, a man and a woman.

"Did you really think you were just going to sneak away without a greeting to your favorite aunt and uncle?"

Lily grinned and exclaimed, "Uncle Percy, Aunt Audrey!" Although her uncle and aunt had the slightly lined faces of politicians, their eyes sparkled.

"Any grey hairs?" Aunt Audrey asked, amusement laced in her voice, causing her slight Irish accent to be more pronounced. Lily blushed furiously.

"What I - didn't - how'd you know?" She finally managed to splutter out. Uncle Percy let out an easy laugh. "Your father does the same thing. Bloody mental, if you ask me."

His wife elbowed him in the ribs. "It's a good thing Harry worries because Lord knows the rest of you men don't." She rebuked, smirking when Uncle Percy leapt to defend his gender. Lily watched her aunt and uncle spar playfully. Not that she'd ever admit it, but Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey were her favorite aunt and uncle.

Uncle Percy glanced at Lily and then at his wife. "How about we go for a nice little stroll through Hogsmeade? I'm getting a little too claustrophobic in here, although that could be the bigheadedness going around."

"Percy!" Aunt Audrey reprimanded, smacking her husband's arm as Lily laughed. The three of them got up anyway and left the pub.

They stopped at Honeydukes, where Aunt Audrey bought a huge bag of Fudge Flies and Lily bought some Sugar Quills. Both women pretended not to notice as Uncle Percy got suspiciously wet eyes as he saw some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

It began to snow as they passed the small residential area, much to Uncle Percy's dissatisfaction ("It's October!") - although his mood was greatly improved at the sight of his wife and niece veering sharply away from Madame Puddifoot's.

Lily stopped in the entrance of an alley to send some sparks at a couple of stray cats for her own amusement. Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey feigned deafness but roared with laughter when the animals dove for Lily's wand. Lily managed to drive them off with a quick _Augamenti_.

Aunt Audrey piped up, "You know Lily, you're lucky Aunt Hermione isn't here, because she'd go off about how that was animal cruelty!"

"Oh my wizard-God no!" Lily cried out dramatically, hand over her heart.

"Was that _backtalk_ I just heard?" Uncle Percy asked mischievously, not waiting for an answer before charging her. Lily shrieked and tried to run away while Aunt Audrey pretended not to see or hear anything.

After Lily had gotten her uncle to leave her alone - at the cost of two Sugar Quills - she stood up, huffing in mock anger. Her scowl deepened when Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey made a big show of brushing the snow off her.

"There you go, darling niece of mine!" Uncle Percy declared grandly. A click behind him made them all freeze.

Slowly, they turned around. There was a shabbily dressed man, with a scruffy light brown beard and clumpy hair. His clothes were ill-fitting, which made his wild eyes more pronounced. But that wasn't what made them freeze. In the man's thin, knobby hands was something that Lily had heard about, yet never seen in person. After all, no pureblood family except the Weasleys would have been familiar with the capabilities of a muggle gun.

"E- Empty out your pockets!" He said harshly, the words twisting out of his mouth. His hands shook, from either the cold or nervousness.

Uncle Percy discreetly moved in front of Aunt Audrey and Lily. He held his hands up, speaking softly and lowly. "Easy, easy."

"Empty out your pockets!" The man repeated, getting angrier and bolder. Slowly, Uncle Percy reached into his pocket. His face was white, while Aunt Audrey's was grave. Lily tried desperately to calm her racing heart. This wasn't _anything_ like the tales of her father or her own fiction books. Lily thought she might collapse out of sheer terror, not laugh in the face of danger or secretly plan.

Lily's breathing was shallow. _Take out your wand… both of you can overpower him… _

Perhaps the man had guessed the most likely scenario. "Don't even think about getting your wands. Little Lily here's gonna get it." He gestured savagely with the gun. If Lily was scared before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. Her palms were slick with sweat as she stared at the piece of metal in front of her. There was a sharp intake of breath from Aunt Audrey.

Uncle Percy, moving even slower now, pulled out a small drawstring bag.

"Put it on the ground! In front of my feet!" The man snapped, bearing his misshapen, yellow teeth. Uncle Percy carefully tossed the bag at the man's feet. Lily could hear the gentle clink of coins.

Still pointing the gun at Lily, the man cautiously lowered himself to the ground, picked up the bag and swiftly stood up. "This real money?" He grunted at Uncle Percy who nodded, lips tightening.

The man took a step back, glaring distrustfully. Uncle Percy slowly lowered his hands as the man continued to back away. Suddenly, the man jerked the mouth of the gun away from Lily and pointed it at Aunt Audrey before pulling the trigger.

"NO!"

Uncle Percy lunged in front of his wife. It didn't happen in slow motion, like books always said. One second, the gunshot was heard and the next, Uncle Percy was crumpled on the ground, blood blossoming through his dark cloak. Aunt Audrey screamed, as she knelt by her husband. Lily froze, completely and utterly horrified.

The man let out a malicious cackle before firing the gun at Aunt Audrey. Her voice died as she too fell. Now Lily found her own voice and screamed. The man's eyes widened, but the laughter hadn't died from his face. He sprinted away, leaving Lily with her own noises of anguish ricocheting through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade.

[***]

Scorpius Malfoy stared at the Shrieking Shack as he took a heavy drag out of his cigarette. A rail surrounded the decaying building - to preserve the honor of some bullshit like that. The building was hardly honorable. People came up here to smoke and get away from all the hustle of Hogsmeade.

If one wanted to be technical, he really shouldn't be in Hogsmeade at this time. He wasn't a Hogwarts student anymore, but honestly, who cared? There was a strange noise next to him as Brett Flint choked on his cigarette. Alan Nott, grinning maliciously, pounded Brett's back. Ian Zabini, Scorpius's best friend, rolled his eyes at the two guys and raised the collar of his shirt.

"Don't cough up a lung," Alan said, still grinning. Scorpius glared at the Shack. The first James Potter and his merry gang had run all over the grounds, illegally. Were they punished? Nope.

"What are you trying to set the Shack on fire for?" Ian drawled, glancing at the blonde haired boy. Scorpius scowled at his dark, half-Italian cousin.

"I was actually thinking about Potter."

"Which one?" Ian asked - at the same time Brett asked "Lily?"

Scorpius's mouth twitched as he remembered the fiery Slytherin. "No, I'm talking about her dickhead brothers." It was hardly incorrect, especially when one looked at the eldest Potter.

"Speak of the devil…." Alan trailed off, smirking over Scorpius's shoulder.

Coming up the path were four boys and a girl. Although all five of the young adults had already graduated, they were roaming the streets - simply because they knew they could, in Scorpius's opinion.

"How ya doing, Scorpy?" James taunted, eyes glinting. Rose let out a jeering laugh, the wind tangling her violent locks. Their companions had similar mocking expressions.

"Alright, how about you… Jamie-Poo?" Scorpius sneered back. Ian let out a low chuckle at the mortification on James's face.

"How embarrassing." Ian spoke, his voice seeping with glee. "You sister talks, Potter…"

"And how would you know that?" Jesse Wood butted in aggressively. The implication in his words was clear.

Ian didn't look too bothered. "The same way you do."

James gritted his teeth as Jesse's eyes bulged. Brett let out a laugh at their faces.

Louis angrily flicked the hair out of his eyes. "Don't talk like that about Lily - not with… your womanizing mouth!"

Ian shrugged. "Least I've never lied about my intentions - and I don't need Veela genes to make me look pretty."

"Ooh!" Alan let out a cackle.

Frank Longbottom - ever good-natured - simply stated. " You think you're too pretty, apparently. How many girls have you cheated on?" James laughed along with Frank and Rose.

Brett cut in. "I think infidelity would be more up Rose's ally, not ours… And they say Slytherin girls are bad!"

None of the boys could hold in their shouts of laughter at a reddening Rose.

"Don't tell me that we're all actually getting along here?"

Roxanne was striding toward them, a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes bag casually dangling off her arm.

The children of the infamous prankster were one of the few students that were well-liked by everybody. Although, they could thank Lily for their relatively good standing in Slytherin.

Scorpius smiled - if not a bit patronizingly - at the former Gryffindor. "I hope not. Things would get awfully boring around here."

Roxanne rolled her eyes. "A girl can hope, can't she?" She glanced at the Gryffindors. "Now, I know we're not Hufflepuffs, but it's not that difficult. Five against four is hardly fair."

"Gonna back us up, sweetheart?" Ian smirked, eyes traveling up and down her body. Jesse made a disbelieving noise in his throat as Roxanne laughed.

I'm not going anywhere near _you_, baby cakes. Something tells me I'm gonna end up screaming."

"I don't think screaming is on Ian's agenda - not yet anyway." Alan cut in, nudging the Zabini boy, who grinned unashamedly.

There was a shriek nearby. A boy was walking out of a shop, with a girl slung over his shoulder. The girl was hitting his back - their laughter could be heard up the hill.

"Is that - Liam?" Rose asked, moving forward to better squint at the pair. "Sahara!" Brett exclaimed, looking at the girl in surprise. Scorpius laughed at the look on Ian's face.

"You've got to be shitting me."

Liam had put Sahara down and she was - very dramatically - scolding him. Quickly, he sprung and kissed her.

Perhaps the shock from the Gryffindors and Slytherins was a little too loud, for the couple broke up. When they caught sight of their spectators, they laughed. Liam actually saluted as he and Sahara ran away.

"Well… that was interesting." Louis said, breaking the icy silence that had fallen. Roxanne burst out laughing, as other people awkwardly chuckled.

"If they're having hot monkey sex, I swear…" Rose commented. Scorpius roared with laughter, especially as Rose's eyes sparkled at Ian's horror.

"I… I - that's my sister!"

"Well spotted!" James said, smirking. A scream rang through Hogsmeade.

"I WAS KIDDING ABOUT THE HOT MONKEY SEX, GUYS!" Rose yelled out, horrified.

"That's not hot monkey sex. Believe me, I would know." Ian frowned.

"LILY!" James cried out, taking off down the hill. His family followed in hot pursuit. After a second's hesitation, the Slytherins followed.

The Gryffindors sprinted through Hogsmeade like maniacs, swerving shopkeepers, residents and customers who had come out at the screaming.

"This is pointless! We have no idea where we're going!" Jesse growled as they dodged a trio of Ravenclaws.

"Wait! Point me!" Rose panted, waving her wand wildly. The group morphed to allow Rose to take the lead as she wove through the streets. The redhead stopped in front of an ally and let out a heavy cry through her heavy breathing.

An unnatural stillness fell. Scorpius pushed through that crowd that was already starting to form and froze.

James ran to Lily, holding her as her body was racked with sobs. Carefully, they managed to make it to the ground. James's face was a mask of horror, one that was etched onto everyone's face.

Scorpius forced himself to look away from the blank eyes of Percy and Audrey Weasley.

_Fin_.

**A/N: Okay, so what did you think? Tell me all! Were all the returning people in character? Was my writing totally horrible? **

**This is part of a little experiment that I'm doing. Basically, I've got too many Scorpily stories in my head, so I've written a chapter about each of them. Since I want to commit to only one story at a time, I'm posting one chapter for each plot up. You all read, and at the end of the month, whichever story has the most reviews is the one I'll commit to. So, if you're intrigued by this, it's in your best interest to review! **


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